Alvarado’s manager: Provodnikov fight ‘close’

The manager of Mike Alvarado said “we’re close” to accepting their part of the deal regarding a proposed Oct. 19 fight with Ruslan Provodnikov, who already has agreed to face Alvarado in a clash for the WBO junior welterweight belt.

Alvarado (34-1, 23 knockouts) had expressed discontent over the money being offered by Top Rank for the bout with Provodnikov (22-2, 15 KOs), which would be televised on HBO in Denver, near Alvarado’s hometown of Thornton.

But Alvarado’s co-manager, Henry Delgado, said that he has “faith that the fight will happen,” describing the deal as “75 percent” done and adding, “it’s just got to be for the right amount of money.

“We’re close. Yeah, we’re close. They’ve asked us not to talk too much about it but the fight’s going to happen. With Top Rank, we’ve always come to terms, every fight. No matter what,” said Delgado.

“It’s always worked out between us, and we want the same thing for Mike. Top Rank’s always been great with us, and I have faith that the fight will happen and that it will get done, because it always has.”

Alvarado was last in the ring for a unanimous-decision win over Brandon Rios in March that avenged his seventh-round stoppage loss to Rios in October of last year.

Provodnikov is coming off a unanimous decision loss in March to WBO beltholder Tim Bradley, whom Provodnikov dropped in the 12th round.